"They use chemical explosives to blow up bits of nuclear materials designed to stop just short of erupting into a nuclear chain reaction, also known as a criticality."

They are testing to make sure the stockpiles of nuclear materials are not going to blow up or do something unexpected. The genie is out of the box so we have responsible scientists doing what is necessary to prevent it from freeing itself.

Ironic this is condemned by Japan on Pearl Harbor day [at least still in my time zone]. Sad that what they did to the US necessitated us letting that genie out.

Peace... but probably not gonna happen for a while anyway.

Quoting: ProspeKtor

oh they're just blowing up nuclear material into the atmosphere......thats ok then

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 29269292

It was deep underground. Not saying that I like that scenario either but they are trying to understand this thing they created 65 years ago. Maybe they are a bit worried about what they are seeing in the stockpiles. Let's seek to understand and not be so quick to condemn.

GLP's best Fuku thread: Thread: *** Fukushima *** and other nuclear-----updates and linkstwitter: #citizenperth“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on it, I would use the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I knew the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”- Albert Einstein

On Friday it was announced that the Nevada National Security Site had successfully detonated plutonium in a deep shaft Wednesday to test the safety and effectiveness of US nuclear weapons, National Nuclear Security Administration officials said.

Japan doesn't like it because they got nuked, Iran doesn't like it because they aren't allowed to have nukes.No one else gives 2 fucks.....

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 29320595

I agree. I think they are trying to score political points off of something the public doesn't truly understand while the scientists are still seeking to understand what is going on with a relatively new weapon's system. 65-70 years may seems like an old weapon but not when the half-lives are years and years. Still trying to restrain the genie as much as they can cuz they know more than anyone of its dire consequences.

The greatest act of hypocrisy ever. Way to go United States Government. The U.S Government are bullies.

I watched The Dictator today and in one of the closing scenes Sasha Baron Cohen compares Dictatorship to The "Democracy" in the U.S, and the parallels are so direct, the two are virtually indistinguishable.

It is just that Democracy creates an illusion of sorts, under which tyranny can take place.

Quoting: hdca18

It's not Obama or the US government that runs the show.

Re-read the article...it said National Security. The NSA is not part of the USA nor any part of the US Gov't.

They do not answer to anyone inside the USA...period. They answer to Israel, the Vatican, London (the corporation not the city), and the District of Columbia (the owners, not the territory or location).

The title is more explosive than what really happened. Read the article then judge for yourself.

Peace out.

Quoting: ProspeKtor

so, are you saying that they're going to add a clause to the Test Ban Treaty, sayingthat: "it's o.k. to test a tiny bit of plutonium"?

Quoting: Anonymous Coward 28513488

No one is saying they like this, but the scientists are trying to assure they understand what happens with stockpiles of this stuff.

It's not like we really know what happens to stuff with long half-lives stored together for practically forever. Better that we find out. And it is chemical explosions deep in the earth, sad but true, that they are doing not nuclear explosions that send plumes of debris into the atmosphere.

Well wasnt that fracking proven to cause quakes, so underground nuclear testing is way worse to the earth than that, whose to say that what you do in one place stays there, and doesnt effect some other part of the globe